


The World's a Stage

by Pixie (Kookies_N_Jams)



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Implied Romance, NOTHING HAPPENS THO, Some Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:20:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26932777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kookies_N_Jams/pseuds/Pixie
Summary: "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players;... And one man in his time plays many parts."A series of character studies for all the confidants in Persona 5 Royal.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Kurusu Akira & Everyone, Kurusu Akira & Phantom Thieves of Hearts
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	The World's a Stage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArynnVyxlanova](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArynnVyxlanova/gifts).



> Hi everyone! This is my first fic for Persona 5 (and honestly my first fic of anything in a really long time). There's no plot--sorry--just a bunch of character studies. But the idea is that by doing the character studies, I'll be able to write a strong long-form fic in the future. We'll see! In any case, I hope you all enjoy this. 
> 
> PS: I don't have a schedule for this. I'm just writing these as I play the game again. But the order of the character studies will be based on the numbers in the Major Arcana. Faith and Councillor though are just at the end (but before The World) because they aren't in a traditional Tarot deck and I wasn't sure where else to place them ^_^;
> 
> PPS: I know that Igor is technically the Fool confidant, but since Akira's natural Arcana is that of the Fool, I figured it would be more interesting to do him instead. Igor isn't gonna get a study, sorry ya'll.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 0 The Fool  
> -Fearlessness  
> -Folly  
> -Innocence  
> -Potential

**0 The Fool – Akira Kurusu**

Akira is tired of hearing the word “potential.”

Sure, a bowl of lemons has the “potential” to turn into lemonade, but until the moment you squeeze them and add sugar and water, it’s still just a bowl of lemons. For Akira, “potential” is a copout. It’s a way of saying you haven’t actually achieved anything yet, but hey—maybe you could do it one day. And there’s always the chance that you’ll never live up to that potential, either. 

So, what purpose does it serve except to fill someone with what very well could be empty praise? 

“You have potential.”

Akira knows. He knows that he has potential to be anyone—so he tries to be everyone. 

For Ryuji, he’s a troublemaker and a smartass. Sometimes, he’s an anchor to hold him back from making mistakes out of anger. Sometimes, he’s an added voice of righteous indignation at the unfairness of it all. They work out and play video games and eat ramen, and while they’re together, Akira thinks maybe it’s okay to just be a teenager—at least until the next shitty adult steps on their throats. 

For Morgana, he’s a cocky phantom thief, a trump card against the enemies they face in their cognitive dungeon crawls—and an excellent snuggle buddy if he does say so himself. Their relationship is unusual; after all, how many people talk to their pets and the pets actually talk back? But after living with Morgana for nearly a year, he can’t imagine how he survived without him. 

For Ann and Makoto, he’s an attentive ear and a comforting shoulder to lean on. He tries to motivate them—a little tough love for Ann when she needs it, a strong, steadying presence at Makoto’s shoulder when she could use the extra strength—but the two of them have inner strength he can only marvel at. Mostly, he just has to lend his presence in the background while they become their own heroes—and the heroes of those they care about. 

For Yusuke, he’s a warm plate of curry when he’s hungry and, if Yusuke is to be believed, one of his muses. Akira doesn’t know anything about fine art or divine inspiration. Mostly, he just wants to see Yusuke happy and healthy. But when they go to places like the Planetarium and Yusuke’s face lights up as brightly as the stars wheeling above, Akira thinks he kind of understands what Yusuke means by pure beauty. 

For Futaba, he’s a “key item,” a staunch protector, and a big brother. If she asked him, Akira would march through a ring of burning fire just to get the latest Featherman figurine for her. Sometimes, when Morgana is asleep and purring next to him, he’ll speak into the empty quiet of his attic bedroom knowing that Futaba is listening through one of her bugs. He never wants her to feel like she’s alone in a tomb ever again. 

For Haru, he’s a sounding board and, sometimes, an experiment. He’ll try new things with her—be it the unusual vegetables she grows on the school roof or coffee made out of some animal’s excrement—and pushes her to make herself heard over the noisy men in her father’s company. Like Ann and Makoto, her strength is unparalleled and he wouldn’t want to find himself on the wrong side of her anger—or the massive gun she carries with her into the Metaverse. 

For Goro—Akechi—he’s a dangerous enemy, the selfish phantom thief hellbent on his own justice which stands in stark opposition to that of the Ace Detective. But more than that, he is an equal. A rival. The other side of a coin which flips endlessly, end over end, until Akira can’t make heads nor tails of their relationship. He thinks, maybe, that he loves him. He also thinks, maybe, that it doesn’t matter. 

And for Sumire, he’s a promise to watch and cheer for her always, and a reminder for her to be herself. He watched her break. He then watched her reassemble those broken pieces until they resembled the person she admired—and resented—the most. Then, he helped break her down and rebuild herself again into the Sumire they all now knew and loved. So he pushes her, every day, to continue being true to herself. 

And yet…He feels like a hypocrite every time he rips the mask off a Shadow and declares, “I’ll show your true form!”

Over his sixteen years of life, Akira has been many things to many people: A delinquent, a student, a test subject, a customer, an informant, a Shogi partner, a gamer, a campaigner, a wild card, a hero, a friend/lover/brother/son, an enemy…

But there’s a part of him—much stronger than he’d like to admit—that is beginning to wonder which, if any, of those identities is the real Akira Kurusu. 

He never thought that his unique ability to change Personas in the Metaverse would become so literal and relevant to the real world. At this point, he’s been changing masks for so long now that he wonders if there even is a true face beneath them all. 

So, yeah. Akira has potential. But who is he really? 

Maybe, in the end, he’s just a fool.


End file.
